You don't need wings to fly
by Katherine4
Summary: slash “Sometimes, it was better to not have dreams. Dreams confused a person, befuddled his sense of reality. Nothing was real. Everything was real.”


Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue

Author's note: *blushes* OUAM and WUAM _will_ be updated eventually… it's just that, right now, I don't really feel like writing them… so please accept this short as a peace offering? Please? ^_^

Rain lashed against the Black Pearl, striking the sodden crew fiercely, mercilessly.

_It was amazing._

Will alternated between awe and fear, as he struggled to restrain the ropes from slipping away in his slippery grasp.

Streaks of silver blazed across the torrents, illuminating the drenched, decidedly worse for wear crew that was fighting to keep the ship afloat.

"Scared?" A teasing voice yelled into his ear, causing Will to nearly lose the ropes he was desperately holding onto.

Glowering with irritation, Will turned to give a piece of his mind to a certain smug Captain.

Unexpectedly, the glare slipped away from his face and Will collapsed into helpless giggles, as he witnessed Jack's face.

The driving rain had not been kind to Captain Jack Sparrow.

Water had smudged his kohl horrifically, had plastered his limp, soaking wet dreads to his head, had in fact turned him into a not exactly frightful ghoul that was currently beaming at Will.

"What?" Jack scowled, pouting in a way that was very unbecoming of a Captain.

That only made Will laugh even harder, which caused a very unhappy Captain to stalk away with his bruised ego.

_"At least he died laughing."_

That was what people would have said if Will had died then, at that exact moment the pole fell on him

********

Stabbing pain battled his battered body as snatches of conversation whiffed towards his semi-conscious mind.

"He's lucky to be alive."

"And not a single scratch on that pretty face of his!"

"After being smashed by the bloody pole!"

Sounds of angry shushing, the pattering of indignant feet leaving the room suddenly ensued, followed by a soft hand that caressed his face.

"Will?" An anxious voice asked. "Are you awake?"

Exhaling softly, Will murmured, "No."

Shifting his face to rest against the warm, comforting hand, he relinquished the urge to wake up.

*******

_The wind stirred in his tousled curls and Will stood calmly in the post, overlooking Jack that was staring up at him with disturbingly soulful eyes._

_"Fly, Will." Jack said earnestly, cryptically._

_Jack was such an asshole sometimes, Will thought crossly._

_Gazing down at Jack, Will pointed out reasonably, "I can't fly, I don't have wings."_

_As an afterthought, he added, "And I just had my head smashed in by your ship so I don't really fancy another injury so soon, thank you very much!"_

_After he blinked, Jack disappeared._

******

His eyelashes fluttered determinedly.

Dim images flickered as piercing pain threatened to overwhelm him once again.

"Hey, how do you feel?" An affectionate voice asked as fingers teased his curls.

A blurry image swung before his eyes before they closed again.

*******

_Jack smiled at him, quiet concern resonating in his dark orbs._

_Breathing in harshly, as if to brace himself, Jack leaned in to kiss him softly._

_Will returned the kiss fervently, eagerly, his hands exploring Jack's disheveled hair._

_Until everything faded away._

******

Bolts of pain flickered and he winced. 

"I don't want to eat," Will complained, folding his arms across his chest in mutiny. "I'm not hungry."

"You're injured, you have to eat to get your health back," Jack pointed out reasonably, a look of irritation settling into his features.

Pouting prettily, Will finally consented, as Jack held out a spoon.

Staring suspiciously at it, Will asked warily, "Did you make this? Are you trying to kill me?"

Glaring fiercely at Will, Jack tried to remain calm.

"I am not going to get angry. I am not going to get angry." He chanted, beaming fakely at Will.

"Are you going mad? Did you get hit by a falling pole too during the storm?" Will asked helpfully, an impish smile on his face.

The grin vanishing from his face, Jack stalked out of the room, muttering under his breath, "Anamaria thinks she's so smart. Look after him, she says. He'll find out how nice you really are. He'll realize how he feels towards you. Well, it's just too bad that he's never going to find out because no more babysitting job for Captain Jack Sparrow!"

"I'm not a baby!" An offended Will hollered after Jack, having caught only the tail end of the rant.

*******__

_Will wasn't lost, not really. _

_He was just misplaced._

_He knew where he was supposed to be, he just wasn't sure it was where he wanted to be._

_Staring at the streaming rolls of clouds, he thought. He thought until it ached. _

_And suddenly, he could hear Jack whisper, "I found you." _

_*******_

"You're terrible to Jack," Anamaria scolded him, her eyes twinkling with merriment.

"He was the one who caused him to get smashed by the pole!" Will argued, unable to assuage the twinge of guilt that pulled at his heart.

"No, he didn't," she countered in a matter of fact manner as she fed him another spoonful of chicken soup. "And you know it."

_He did._

********

_Raindrops danced around him as he blinked through the shimmering curtain._

_He could see Jack, a nebulous, wavering figure._

_Will reached out and his trembling fingertips touched Jack's glimmering lips._

_He withdrew them, shaking, disconcerted. He pressed his fingers against his own lips and he realized he could taste salt._

*******

"I thought you liked him," Anamaria confessed, girlishly excited at indulging in some delicious gossip.

"I do like him. He's a good Captain." Will concurred, engrossed in the hearty stew.

 "No, I thought you really _liked _him, especially after that kiss."

Spitting out the stew in shock, Will coughed painfully, his eyes streaming as he tried to digest what Anamaria had just said.

*******

_Sometimes, it was better to not have dreams._

_Dreams confused a person, befuddled his sense of reality._

_Nothing was real._

_Everything was real._

_******_

He stood silently behind Jack, waiting patiently to confront him.

Jack finally turned around, his face expressionless, his eyes fathomless.

"It wasn't a dream," Will breathed, taken aback by the chilling abyss in Jack's eyes.

"No."

"You made me think it was a dream," Will accused him.

"I thought you wanted it to be a dream."

At that, a flicker of emotion, of pain slipped through the crack in Jack's façade.

And Will shook his head violently, causing a wave of dizziness to swing through him.

Alarmed, Jack grabbed hold of the swaying Will. "You shouldn't be out of bed," he reprimanded him, preparing to swing Will over his shoulders and "escort" him back to bed.

"I'm fine," Will insisted, trying to ignore the presistent pain pounding inside him and making his knees stagger under his weight.

Gazing intensely into Jack's eyes, Will said earnestly, "I don't want it to be a dream."

And Jack smiled.

*******

Will opened his eyes and he was back in the post, overlooking a patient Jack that was standing underneath the post.

_Shaking his head regretfully, Will peered nervously over the edge, reiterating his earlier words, "I can't fly. I don't have wings."_

_Jack smirked at him, the familiar expression making Will's lips  quirk up involuntarily._

_"You don't need wings." He said confidently._

_A glimmer of understanding passed through them._

_"Because I'll catch you."_

_And Will flew._


End file.
